This invention relates generally to an air purification system for use with an air conditioning apparatus which may be either a heating or cooling apparatus having supply conduit means for supplying conditioned air to a given area and return conduit means for drawing air from the area back to the apparatus.
The invention will be described herein in relation to a heating apparatus which includes a furnace or the like and an air circulation system including supply conduit means and return conduit means. However, it should be understood that the air purification system of this invention is equally applicable for use with air cooling apparatus.
Heretofore, air purification systems such as those employed in an ordinary home, have utilized filters which are placed directly in the circulation system of the installation. For instance, a filter may be placed in the return conduit of air below a furnace or upstream of a cooling unit. One of the problems with such systems is that the filter itself reduces the flow of air through the circulation system of the heating or cooling apparatus. The more effective the filter, the greater will be the residue on and in the filter and, consequently, the conditioning apparatus itself inherently becomes less efficient.
In addition, by placing filter units in-line with the circulation system of an air conditioning apparatus, the filter is constantly operative. There may be instances where the air need not be filtered at a particular time or, for some reason, it is desirable to eliminate the filtering operation. This can be done only by completely removing the filter unit from its in-line location.
There is a need for, and the present invention is directed to, providing an air purification system which is a self-contained unit independent of the air conditioning (heating or cooling) apparatus itself. The air purification system employs a high volume, high efficiency means which draws only a portion of the air from the circulation system of the heating or cooling apparatus.